College Football: Fordham QB Dan Light misses devoted father

Dan Light never missed one of his son Dan's football games. From the time young Dan was 7 through his Super Bowl championship season at St. John's High and his first two seasons at Fordham, home or away, in the rain, snow or sunshine, he was at every one.

There will be an emptiness at Jack Coffey Field Saturday, as there has been all season, when undefeated Fordham hosts Holy Cross at 1 p.m., but not in young Dan's heart. He is keeping the wonderful spirit of his father alive.

The elder Dan passed away in August at age 45 after a courageous battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

"I play every game for him," said Dan, Fordham's starting tight end who is having a terrific junior season.

Dan has 26 receptions for 258 yards and a touchdown, and his blocking efforts have helped the Rams average 185 rushing yards a game. Eighth-ranked Fordham is averaging 512 yards of total offense and is one of just three unbeaten teams in FCS. The Rams rank in the top 10 nationally in total, passing and scoring offense.

"Their offense is off the charts, their skill level is amazing," Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore said. "Dan has done a tremendous job. They use him in the run game as a frontside, backside blocker, but also to block across the grain. They insert him into the run game in a lot of different ways, so they're using him in a bigger way that way. He's always been a good receiver. As good as their receivers are, they still have a tight end in the game 95 percent of the time, which tells you what they think of him."

As a sophomore, Light earned All-Patriot League first-team honors after finishing third on the team in receptions. This year, he had a season-high six receptions against both Villanova and St. Francis and had a season-best 65 receiving yards against Columbia.

Fordham is 8-0 for the first time in program history and is outscoring opponents by an average of almost 20 points.

"It's definitely been a great start," Light said. "Our focus every week has just been going 1-0, and that's added up to some great success. I'm really excited about it, and I want to keep it going. Our offense has definitely been high powered all year, and when we're clicking, we're really tough to stop."

Light took last semester off to be at home in Sutton with his father. His dad owned D. Light & Sons Siding in Millbury for many years. He was an ardent football fan and took great joy in spending time with his wife, Dawn, and raising their children, Dan, Zachary and Jenna.

"He was awesome," Light said. "All I had to do was follow his example, and it wasn't too tough to come out as a good kid. He had a passion for football. It's tough, obviously, without him because that was something we shared really closely. We always shared a love of football."

Fordham had its bye last week, so Light came home to see his mom and siblings.

"It was nice to spend some time with them," he said.

Fordham was the first Patriot League school to begin awarding football scholarships four years ago. The other schools began giving football scholarships this year.

"You wonder if scholarships would make a difference," Gilmore said, "just take a look at Fordham."

Fordham is not eligible for the Patriot League championship this year, but it can earn an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, and that prospect is looking pretty good right now.

Fess near reception mark

Holy Cross senior wide receiver Mike Fess is four catches from becoming the program's all-time leader in receptions. Fess enters the game with 187 catches for 1,966 yards. Jeff Laboranti had a school-record 190 receptions from 1994-97.

"He's having a great season for us," Gilmore said. "He's not only a good player, but he understands what we're doing, and he understands defenses. He runs routes full speed, and even if a defender has a slight advantage on him, he's going to beat him more times than not because he understands what to do in those situations."

Respass player of week

Nichols sophomore quarterback Quillian Respass was named NEFC Offensive Player of the Week. He accounted for 536 total yards (331 passing, 205 rushing) and eight touchdowns (four passing, four rushing) in last week's loss at Maine Maritime. … Worcester State junior tight end Casey Hippert of Douglas was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week. Hippert had a career-high nine receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown in last week's loss to Western Connecticut State. … Westfield State sophomore running back Colby Bostek of West Boylston scored his first two career TDs in last week's loss to Bridgewater State.

Dan Allen raffle

The Dan Allen Foundation is holding its fall fundraiser, a raffle for a big-screen TV, plus catering for 12 for a Super Bowl party.

Raffle tickets are $50 each or three for $100 and can be purchased through the foundation's website, www.danallenfoundation.com. Tickets are available until Jan. 8. The drawing for the winner is Jan. 12.

The Dan Allen Foundation was established to keep alive the positive energy and spirit of Allen, the former Boston University and Holy Cross football coach who passed away in 2004, through helping others. The foundation helps families affected by loss and hardship by awarding scholarships and various forms of aid.